A Warm Light To Share
by PantheraUncia1
Summary: Loki escapes the Chiatauri and finds himself once again on Earth, this time at the mercy of humans. Loki learns something about Midgardians that he didn't know before and maybe, just maybe, finds redemption along the way. Loki/OC Rated for violence, torture and adult content.
1. In the Darkest Hour

Even he couldn't believe he'd pulled it off. Loki leaned heavily against the alley wall, bleeding and exhausted, far too weak to stand yet. He had done it, though. He had somehow escaped from the Chiatauri… right out from under Thanos' nose. And so, here he was in Midgard, the last place anyone would expect him to be. It was going far too well so far and this made the Chaos god just a tad nervous.

As consciousness slowly returned, Loki realized that he currently sat near a dumpster, just behind what seemed to be the human equivalent of a tavern. Too run down for more than a faintly mild revulsion, he listened blearily to the music and rowdy laughter filtering out a back window. He was clearly near people and therefore not safe in this form and so, summoning up what scrap of magic he had left in him, Loki shifted form to the only shape he could manage at the time. Exhausted, the god passed out.

* * *

It had been a good night for Anna. Friday nights always meant a little more energy in the bar and a few more tips tossed her way, especially when she could play just about anything on the beat up old piano that anyone in the place could think of for a request. She had knocked everyone's socks off tonight and had earned the last bit of her rent for the month with enough left over to eat pretty darn well this week. All in all, things were going well.

It was a little under half an hour after last call, and Anna was halfway out the door when the owner came up to her. Lindsey had been her childhood friend and even roommate for a few desperate years not so very long ago. Lindsey had finished her business degree and moved in to run her father's bar after he passed while Anna limped along as a waitress by day and musician by rowdy weekend nights. Although the pair we so very different, they remained friends. Lindsey also kept Anna's darkest secret, the only soul to do so.

"Hey Nanna?" Lindsey asked nervously, "I think there's something around back you need to see… I was taking out the trash and, well… you'd better just come have a look."

The something turned out to be a stray tomcat that looked like he'd been through hell. Anna had seen plenty of animals hit by cars, but this poor little thing took the cake. He bled sluggishly through a shocking number of wounds with two painfully twisted limbs that were so obviously broken. Shallow, painful breaths whistled in and out of the motionless, starved form as agonized wheezes that only brought thin flecks of blood. Anna knelt down to scoop up the tortured creature gently with a clean towel Lindsey handed to her.

"Thanks Lindsey… I've got it from here." She smiled sadly at her friend, carrying the cat to her car. The women said their goodbyes and Anna left.

* * *

Loki felt warm and at peace when he came to, something he hadn't felt in far, far too long. Wrapped in something blessedly soft and comfortable, with all of his hurts mending too steadily to be worried over, he was only vaguely aware of something rubbing gentle circles behind his ear. Too relieved to do anything else, the once-prince merely leaned into the touch and purred.

Purred? Loki slowly opened his eyes and terror gripped him at once. Still in his cat form, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar room, curled pathetically on a human woman's lap, of all undignified things! A feral hiss escaped his throat as he scrambled away, scratching the stranger's arm as best he could in the process. Crawling under a nearby desk, Loki took up the best defensive stance he could manage at the moment. No one would touch him again. Ever.

After cleaning her arm, the brunette returned, crouching down to Loki's level, who hissed and spat like a demon. Instead of being repulsed, however, she simply smiled, her chocolate eyes soft at the edges and shining with the offer of kindness that asks nothing in return. Loki had only ever seen that sort of expression on Thor directed at him before and for a moment, he was thrown off guard.

She had been speaking to him, and he hadn't been paying attention but now, he let her words wash over him, finding her gentle reassurances soothing and surprisingly welcome. It really didn't matter what she was saying, Loki hadn't been treated so gently since he was a small child and the fact that it came now, unlooked for and after the worst tortures he had ever endured, affected him far more deeply than he would have liked to admit. With slow, careful movements, she reached for him, stroking a hand along his side. It was then that Loki felt the slight pull of what was preciously close to healing magic as a freshly reopened wound closed beneath this strange woman's touch. With her free hand, she reached behind her and produced a small plate bearing what Loki immediately recognized as shredded chicken. He quickly dragged himself forward, eating his first meal in months ravenously. He barely acknowledged the woman as she clasped both hands around his rebroken hind leg, setting and healing the limb with whatever form of magic she used. Sated, Loki looked longingly at the rest of the food still on the plate that he could not hope to force down and yet could not bear to waste.

"Don't worry sweetie." The woman cajoled, following Loki's miserable gaze. "It's not going anywhere. You can eat as much as you want anytime, ok kitty?"

The woman then went back to her previous train of conversation; consisting mostly of variations of "good kitty," while gradually shifting Loki onto the sofa. Once she had settled him next to her and re-wrapped him in a fresh, fluffy towel, the woman gingerly reached over and picked up the remote, flipping on the television. He allowed her to resume absently stroking behind his ears as the low droning from whatever dull program was on began to lull him. For now, Loki was safe and so, laying his head on his strange rescuer's knee, he finally succumbed to the call of sleep.


	2. Lucky?

**Author's Note: Just in case you were wondering... I own nothing. There, now that I've admitted that, I'd like to apologize for uploading the wrong file for this chapter yesterday. It's all fixed and here's the bigger, unabridged and slightly more awesome chapter in all it's glory. **

* * *

The Asgardian dungeons were a terrible place for Thor. Every moan, creak of metal or squeal of a rat made him jump horribly and agonize all the more keenly over his brother. When the thunderer finally reached the dark cell on the very end, he peered inside and his heart broke all over again. Huddled in the far corner, back turned to the door, lay Loki's pale form, shackled and naked, shivering against the cold.

Tears in his eyes, Thor called out to the fallen prince in a voice barely above a hoarse whisper. "Brother? Will you not speak to me?"

Ringing silence answered the golden prince. Crushed yet again, Thor turned to leave.

"I love you brother. Nothing you could ever do will change that."

* * *

Loki found himself enjoying being a housecat far more than his pride should have allowed. The woman who had taken him in was incredibly kind and thoughtful and it was really quite nice to be taken care of for once without someone expecting their pound of flesh in return. She had taken to calling him Lucky, which the god found quite amusing, and feeding him out of her hand which he accepted with all the dignity he could muster. At night, he slept at the foot of her bed, thoroughly disgusted by his weakness but needing someone near all the same.

She would be gone for long stretches at a time and Loki would find himself waiting for her. Curled on the sofa, he would leap up to greet her whenever she returned, purring and clamoring for her attention. At first, this behavior surprised and embarrassed him, but within the first week he abandoned this idea as he had become far too used to being scooped up onto the woman's shoulder and carried about to care much.

His days were spent lounging about the apartment, napping in the sun, safe and carefree in a way he hadn't been allowed to feel for centuries in general and the last year in particular. When the woman he was coming to think of as his came home, the television or radio was almost always on, a soothing background noise that let him know he wasn't alone. On some evenings, she would play her keyboard and sing, learning new songs or polishing old ones. Loki was sure he liked these evenings best. For a mere mortal, she had a beautiful voice and dearly loved her craft. Slowly, his strength was returning, along with a small trace of his magic. He was recovering quickly, and yet had come to enjoy his new routine far too much to plan his next step.

And so it was much to his surprise when his human brought home a stranger.

"God, he's a mean little thing Anna." The blonde laughed as Loki backed under the table, hissing and spitting for all he was worth.

"He just doesn't know you Lindsey." His human… or Anna?... answered with a smile. "He'll warm up to you in a minute."

"Says the mutant." Both women laughed. "You forget… I don't have the power of mind control over animals."

"I don't either." Anna chuckled. "All I have are a couple of party tricks."

"I fail to see how turning into a giant black horse or healing gruesome injuries are party tricks. Jesus, what kind of party do you go to, girl?" The blonde nudged her friend with an elbow. "Please tell me the guys are hot and the drinks are amazing?"

Both women sat down on the sofa, giggling like schoolchildren. Loki crept closer, sliding under the sofa and resuming his growling.

"Nah. I'm better off alone anyway." Anna turned serious. "Especially if the Registration Act goes through…"

"Anna." Her friend chided.

"I'm serious. You know, they're even talking about _detaining _us? Like, rounding some of us up and putting us somewhere. It scares the hell out of me."

"That's only because of what happened with the Avengers. It's just to keep the really dangerous mutants off the streets. Anna… you wouldn't hurt a fly. What the hell would they want with someone like you?"

"Dunno." Anna grunted noncommittally, stroking the cat that had stealthily slunk into her lap, "Maybe I'm just paranoid?"

"You definitely are." Lindsey grinned. "Look who decided to join us after all. Hey kitty-kitty."

Loki took that opportunity to swat at the stranger with a vengeance, just barely missing her hand. He then shot her his fiercest glare, hissing from his spot on Anna's lap.

"Nanna! Tell your familiar to behave!" Lindsey quipped, laughing. "Have you named him yet? He needs a cool one like Salem. Or maybe Emerald… like, look at those eyes. They're so creepy!"

"I'm calling him Lucky." Both friends giggled. "It works on a couple different levels."

"You're crazy… you know that right?"

The pair sat in silence a moment as Loki slowly calmed. Anna was unusually tense today and Loki could smell fear coming off of her thanks to his feline nose. He wondered about this, going through the conversation he'd just overheard and concluded that whatever this Registration Act was, it meant trouble. He'd concluded early on that this woman was not a true sorceress, was still a mortal and so he'd assumed the term _mutant_ was the appropriate Midgardian term for her heightened abilities. Loki began to worry.

"Lindsey… I know I'm probably overreacting but… if something does happen to me-"

"Stop it. Nothing's going to happen, OK?" The blonde barked.

"I'm so scared. I talked to Logan last week and he said that people are already disappearing. Even Professor X can't find them…" Anna's voice trembled.

"Listen to me, Nanna." Lindsey took hold of her friend's shoulders. "Nothing is going to happen to you, ok? Stop thinking like that!"

* * *

"Tony, this could be bad." Bruce said, eyes never leaving the screen.

"Why do you think I called you and Captain Spangles over here?" The billionaire flashed a nervous smile. "You weren't expecting a giant house party now, were you?"

"Wait, why am I on here… I'm not a mutant." Steve continued reading over Bruce's shoulder.

"Sorry Steve, but technically these guys say you are." Bruce answered. "They've got both of us listed as dangerous, too."

Tony snorted loudly, "Yeah right… Captain Frickin' America is dangerous? Jesus, move over and let me see that thing!"

A pause, then, "Son of a bitch. Congratulations Cap, you and the jolly green giant are both wanted men as of 8:41 this morning. I didn't think it'd get this bad this soon."

Steve looked to Tony, puzzled. "What should we do now, do you think?"

Tony flashed a charming, read terrified, smile, "Try and refrain from rescuing kittens out of trees, I suppose. Look, you guys crash here until all this blows over. This is probably the safest place for both of you and Bruce, before you start, I have a holding room just for you if you feel the need to suddenly go green. OK?"

"Stark, you're a good man." Bruce laughed. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. I still need to jerk a knot in the US Military's tail. Thank me then." Tony grinned wolfishly.

"So, explain this to me one more time… D.N.A?" Steve queried, utterly lost.


	3. Amid the Darkness Grim

**Author's Note: Hello again! Thank you to those who've reviewed... you guys are so great! **

"Is there nothing we can do, Mother?" Thor all but whined to Frigga, who sat elegantly on a marble bench, purple and blue flowers climbing the arbor behind her. "I have seen how he suffers, there must be some other way! Surely Father cannot be so cold."

The queen drew herself up, taking a centering breath before speaking. "Thor, hear me. There is a reason for everything your father does. He loves Loki just as dearly as he loves you, even now. Be that as it may, your brother has still done terrible evil… evil that cannot go unpunished. Speak to Odin if you must, but you cannot change his mind. Loki's fate is set."

"But it wasn't of his own doing!" Thor roared. "He admitted it himself! He'd been captured! Tortured! To refuse would have cost him his life! Can we not find a way to forgive his crime, mother?"

Before the queen could answer, a figure hobbled slowly, painfully down the garden path. With hair so white it was nearly blue and skin like cracked, beaten leather, everything about this woman was profoundly and deeply ancient. Everything but her eyes, which sparkled the same green as a meadow in the spring. Her eyes were ageless, tireless and very much alive. Thor knelt and Frigga rose, embracing the woman as old as time.

"Delphi." The queen smiled. "What brings you here?"

After Frigga stepped back and the prince placed a kiss on the old woman's knuckles, Delphi answered, eyes dancing. "I come with terrible and wonderful news. I was given a prophesy in a dream this morning, one you may like to hear, particularly you, my prince."

"Tell us then, Oracle. Please." Thor put in.

And so, she began.

_"Of a prince a monster made,_

_ All left here is but a Shade,_

_ Hope yet is there left for Him,_

_ To be found still amid the darkness grim._

_ A Lionheart is rising now,_

_ The Great Cat who will for no man bow,_

_ Upon Their back They will bear a mark,_

_ The beast to lead Him from the Dark. _

_ Of all the Aesir, slaves shall be made,_

_ If not heeded what has been said,_

_ The Lionheart offers what you cannot know, _

_ In time, the use of Freedom to you will show."_

"And now, my darlings, I must leave. Be careful of the dark, Thor. Things are not always as they appear." With a small bow, Delphi vanished into thin air.

Thor pondered a moment aloud. "Not always what they appear? … All left here is but a shade?"

Dawning horror washed over the thunderer, who quickly hugged his mother, then went tearing away at a run down the garden path.

"Thor?" Frigga called to her son, who was already gone. "Thor?!"

* * *

It was dark when they came.

The law had passed that morning and Anna had spent the day inside, curtains drawn shut, playing her keyboard. Loki spent the day near her, trying his best to strategize for what could be coming. He watched the woman, so plainly terrified, yet defiant, resolved, strong in the face of what she feared the most, and Loki couldn't help but feel some bit of respect for this mortal. His magic was still painfully weak, but he resolved to help her if he could.

It was dark when they came. Gunshots and screams came first from the street and buildings below, then heavy boots and crashing doors in the hall. Last of all, they came to Anna's door. Through all this, she played a steady, haunting sonata, her eyes closed and shoulders square.

With what little magic he had, Loki shifted back to his original form, holding a hand to Anna's mouth to silence a scream, shaking his head and holding a finger to his lips. Her eyes were full of horrified recognition, and it crushed Loki to see it. Still, he had something he needed to do. Pointing toward the fire escape, he waited for her to nod before turning toward the front door.

When the door gave way and soldiers poured in, Loki was everywhere at once. He leapt and struck with an inhuman, feline grace that seemed almost impossible, leaving a dozen men sprawled on the floor in under a minute and already turning to the new ones pouring in. It was desperate and reckless and stupid, exactly what Thor would have done, but it gave Anna, the one who had saved his life once already, enough time to slip down the fire escape. Out of the now open, shattered window, Loki made out the shape of a black horse, galloping madly through the inky night and disappearing into the blackness. Something flat connected with his skull a moment later, and Loki fell, unconscious, to the floor, a smile still on his lips.


	4. Of a Prince a Monster Made

**And here we are with chapter four! This is a little shorter and pretty Loki-centric, but the next one is going to be a lot longer and back to jumping POV's. Enjoy!**

* * *

Of a Prince a Monster Made

_ "You have failed us, little prince, and for that, you shall pay." Thanos smiled cruelly. "Tell me, Asgardian, have you felt Chiatauri venom yet? Believe me when I say, you will become quite accustomed to it during your stay with us, which I hope to be a long one."_

_ Loki trembled, bound to a metal table by enchanted chains. He could feel his magic weakening by the minute. Helpless against the wrath of creatures who could have stepped from the very depths of the darkest of nightmares, all his proud words were lost now. They had already tortured him to breaking, hurting him in creative, terrible ways that he had not known existed. The Chiatauri had already made him scream, beg, plead for the pain to end, for the beautiful mercy of death, and yet there was something worse to come? They had reduced him to less than nothing and yet there was still more? A hysterical whimper escaped his throat as the first needle pierced his skin. _

* * *

Loki woke with a jerk. After nearly two months of waking safe and warm at the foot of a soft bed in his cat form, waking in his Asgardian form in a dark, concrete-lined room was that much more terrifying. Gathering himself mentally, he mulled over how he'd come to be in this predicament.

What he had done was nothing short of the self-same idiotic recklessness his brother was so loved for. Whatever had come over him, to give himself up to another round of imprisonment? Another round, very likely, of torture? He had not fully recovered yet from his last captivity. In fact, his magic was still kitten-weak and his body still frail and underfed. How could he possibly rationalize what he had done?

A memory bubbled up then, unlooked for and sorely unwanted, of the first morning Anna had looked after him. He was so very weak, so broken and beaten, that surely, he must have been a pathetic, wretched thing to see. Any one in their right mind would drown a creature like that, and yet, the woman had sat with him in her lap, stroking, murmuring to and healing the useless, worthless little thing he was. The woman gained nothing by doing this. Indeed, she had wasted a great deal of time and effort seeing to his comfort and asked nothing in return. The Midgardian was a puzzle, one Loki was sure he was missing a key piece to. Loki always did hate leaving a puzzle unsolved.

The chaos god was pulled from his musings by the crackle of static, then a male voice filling the room over the loudspeakers.

"Stand up. Turn around and face the wall. Put your hands on the wall where we can see them. Don't move or we'll shoot."

Loki did as he was instructed, mind suddenly blank and tense, waiting for the battle. The metal door rattled open and something large and solid was tossed into the room, landing dully on the concrete floor. The door closed. Loki turned around.

The woman, as clearly this was a female human, bled horribly through several small, very deep wounds. Gunshots, Loki's mind supplied after a moment of deliberation. The trickster could count half a dozen from where he stood… likely there were one or two more. He walked over slowly, quietly, and knelt by the figure's side. She was dressed in the same grey cotton pants and shirt he wore, with a cloth bag tied over her head. Loki removed this and promptly gasped in horror.

Unconscious and bleeding on the concrete floor at his feet lay none other than Anna, _his_ Anna, the gracious rescuer of broken things, the healer of hurts great and small, the joyful maker of music. Here she lay, thrown into the same pit to rot as a dangerous liar and killer, tossed in with a monster and left for dead.

Something broke inside the trickster then and he set to work tearing the cloth bag into strips. Although she had already begun to heal, clearly she would bleed to death before her natural abilities could save her. With great care and far more skill than anyone should have a need to possess, Loki removed as many bullets and fragments as he could, then bound Anna's wounds. He shifted her into a slightly more comfortable and dignified position, then settled down to wait and watch.


	5. All Left Here is But a Shade

**Author's Note: And here it is... a brand-spankin'-new chapter! I'm sorry in advance for any Norse mythology buffs out there... I'm going to start tweaking with some of the old myths from here on in just because I'm a lazy writer. Something to do with not wanting to have to explain horses with unusual numbers of limbs, the crazy ex-wive from Hell or anything to do with the term "ergi." I hope that even with the rearranging of details, (my cutesy word for cheating,) the story is still somewhat palatable. Anyway... enjoy!**

* * *

All Left Here is But a Shade...

"Heimdall, a word if you please?" Called Thor, dismounting from his horse.

"Yes, my prince?" The Watcher answered back, not moving an inch as the Thunderer strode up to him.

"I have a feeling about something. What can you tell me about shades?"

Heimdall puzzled a moment, "My lord, I am afraid that I am not the one to ask about them. Shades are wild sorcery… a kind of Earth magic practiced by only the very best in the craft. In truth, when I see a shade, I cannot always tell it apart from its creator. Your brother does have quite a mastery of them and you did receive a prophesy this morning. Perhaps you wonder if a certain prisoner in the dungeons might not be who he seems?"

Thor smiled ruefully, "Yes, my friend. You always do know these things, don't you?"

"I could give you a Seeing Stone of all that I've seen of Loki in the recent past, but I'm afraid it will not help you. Loki, or the shade of him, has not moved once since he was placed in the cell. Your brother is stubborn and proud, true, but I doubt even he could manage such complete stillness for so long. Perhaps you would do better to seek out someone with more knowledge of magic than I, particularly of shades and cloaking spells. Do you know the sorceress who calls herself Sigyn?"

Increasingly anxious, Thor answered, "I have heard tales of her. She taught Loki much of what he knows now, but is not someone to be trifled with. Should I seek her out?"

Heimdall's lips quirked up into a ghost of a grin, "You choose your words for her judiciously. She is indeed not to be trifled with. In fact, if you yourself were to go to her, you would likely not live to tell the tale. She lives among the Volr now and so, no man may come within eight leagues of her or they shall perish rather grimly by a spell."

"The Volr?" Thor blurted. "My mother is welcomed by them as one of their own… but I would not wish her to meet the lady Sigyn. If any of the old tales are true, the woman is a terror and would work her terrible mischief upon her. I couldn't ask that of any woman, let alone my own mother! Surely, there must be someone else I can seek out?!"

Heimdall's lips did twitch into a smile then. "Any woman? Perhaps you are overlooking one. Indeed, you and I both know of one who could hold her own against Sigyn. If she could drop a great bilgesnipe unarmed, I'm sure she could manage this. Send her, and you may find the answers you seek."

"Thank you Heimdall. I'll speak to Lady Sif straight away." Thor turned, walking back to his horse and mounting.

"Do not thank me yet, my prince. What you find may not be pleasant, I fear." The watcher said quietly, more to himself than Thor's retreating form.

* * *

Anna's eyes opened slowly. She was cold, so incredibly cold, and there wasn't an inch of her that wasn't hurting. Laying on her right side on a concrete floor, she could make out a few dark stains near her by the dim light from somewhere above her. Dizzily, she concluded that the stains were drying blood… likely her blood, and she tried to sit up and assess the situation a bit better. Slowly, painfully, she brought herself up to a sitting position, leaning against a cement wall for support and waiting for the trembling nausea of vertigo to clear.

"Are we awake, then?" A voice purred nearby, silk and sandalwood and the knife's edge of sanity.

The voice was unlike any she had ever heard, and so she dragged her eyelids open, wearily wondering who this was. Upon seeing who the voice belonged to, Anna's eyes shot open and she jerked backward. With a concrete wall at her back and no clear escape route, she suddenly realized how bad this really was. She was trapped with a known killer, one who was so heartless that he'd tried to enslave an entire planet merely because he had nothing better to do with his time. He was insane. And she was utterly powerless, at the moment, to defend herself.

She then thought over all he'd done while he was with her, in her _apartment_ without her having any clue who he really was. How many chances had he had to hurt her? To kill her? And yet, all he'd done was rest, act like a cat, and then finally sacrifice himself to help her try to escape. None of these actions fit with what she'd seen on the news and so, curiosity got the better of her.

Screwing up her courage, she put on a cocky grin, "So, you come here often?"

Loki laughed at this, a refined, practiced sound that reeked of guardedness. "As a matter of fact, I do seem to. Although the company is usually not quite so charming."

"Really? But I thought dark, creepy holding cells would be just the greatest spot to pick up chicks. Guess I was wrong?" Anna teased gently.

Loki smiled then, a real smile that didn't make him look quite so terrifying for a moment. "Perhaps not entirely. Although I am not fully aware of all Midgardian customs, I believe this is the point at which I'd offer to buy you a beverage… generally alcoholic… is it not? You'll forgive me as I have access to none at the moment , but the sentiment remains the same regardless."

Anna couldn't believe this. There are times in our lives when we find ourselves in situations that are completely unfathomable to us, times that defy all reason or logic within our realm of understanding. Anna found herself in one of those situations right now.

Deciding to chuck reason out a window, she laughed and answered back sassily, "Oh, but sweetie, I'm not so sure I'm one of those girls. I won't just follow any old thing home who buys me a beer or two. You're smooth, but not that smooth."

Some absurd corner of Loki's psyche felt vaguely hurt just then, and on its heels followed the familiar rage and madness, but he quickly brushed it off. For some reason, Loki did not want this simple little mortal to see him as a monster, almost as if to prove to himself that he wasn't one. At least not totally. Plus, her banter was wonderfully entertaining at the moment. It had been far too long since he'd had anyone to tease and laugh with but Thor and so, this was a welcome change of pace.

Turning on all of his charm, Loki replied in his most seductive tone, "Oh, but darling, I'd never even dream of it. You'd be the kind I'd bring home to mother beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Anna found herself laughing, against any voice of reason left, as she fired back, "You're good. I bet that works for you every once in a while, huh? You could probably convince somebody that the sky is green, couldn't you?"

"Oh, but it is." Loki drawled, fighting a grin off his face.

Anna all but howled. Loki smiled triumphantly. Finally, someone understood his humor and could give it right back. The Trickster laughed his first real laugh in far too long, having fun despite himself. Of course, this did not last as a moment later, the speaker system blared cruelly.

"Miller… come to the door. Laufeyson… turn around and put your hands against the far wall."

Anna then shot Loki a look of pure horror, which he met with a quiet calm. For a moment, he wanted to scoff at how pathetic this mortal was, how cowardly, but then he remembered. How could he not?

* * *

_"Well, then… my poor, dull little prince. How about we have a little chat? _ _I hear you've had a little run in with my guards… how clumsy of them not to kill you outright. No one escapes, or haven't you learned that yet?"_

_Thanos took a delicate looking device out of his coat pocket, a long, thin object that was faintly blue and resembled a Midgardian pen with a sharp, fluted tip. The thing looked positively wicked and Loki tried not to think about what it was for. He had already seen and felt more than a few Chiatauri torture devices in the few days he'd been here and was not overly anxious to be introduced to a new one. _

_Loki was chained to the wall, but still drew himself up as best he could and spat back, "Perhaps none of the pathetic, weak little vermin you keep here have ever escaped here before, but I doubt you know truly who I am. If you had even an inkling of my power, you would tremble at my feet! I am Loki of Asgard and when I escape, for it will be when and not if you fool, I will personally rip your heart out and force it down your wretched throat!" _

_Of all the reactions he could have received, he was least prepared for Thanos' cold, mirthless laugh. "Oh, I shall have some fun with you yet. Never fear, my dear little Jotun bastard, for that is __all__ you are, you will not escape. We shall have the rest of your life to play together, which you might beg to be over quickly before long. Now then, do you know what I have here? You'll soon find out. Now do be a lamb and open your mouth… this is for your wicked tongue. Or, if you prefer, for your eye." _

* * *

He understood then the terror Anna was feeling. Although he had been held in such horrible, dark places that his present situation seemed manageable, he remembered that Anna had not. Likely, this was her first captivity and he understood how helpless and afraid, how utterly powerless and lost she must feel now and the fact that she was, so far, keeping relatively calm spoke volumes to the Trickster. He realized then, much to his surprise, that it was only her innocence that made her look so weak in this situation compared to the demi-god, not any lack of courage or strength on her part. Despite being a mortal and despite her trembling, fearful gaze, Loki could not help the feeling of respect for this woman, although part of him wanted to badly to hate her, to think her weak. He had been frightened so very many times, after all, and had only been laughed at for it… called weak and womanly. Rage simmered slowly within him, unexplained and barely kept in check. He held it back, though, and waited for what was to come.

Four guards entered, armed to the teeth with guns and long, wicked looking prods, and seized Anna. Her hands were bound and a bag was thrown over her head. A touch from a prod drew a scream of pain from the woman and she was all but dragged forward, sobbing but unbowed. The heavy metal door was slammed closed and Loki was left alone once more.


End file.
